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Emily Nightingale
Mrs. Balka
IB English Year 1
27 November 2018
Written Assignment
Various societies past and present day have been known to take strong interest in overall
moral values that engulf the community, but with various beliefs and expectations these groups
of people are often found living in a toxic environment of hostility. This exact idea was
brilliantly showcased in a Colombian society by Gabriel Marquez within the novel Chronicle of
a Death Foretold in which ideas of machismo and religious expectations rigorously contradicted
each other. The idea’s of expected masculinity of their men while also celebrating their beliefs as
catholics and the purity of others were extremely relevant and important aspects of their culture.
Nonetheless, when a specific man, Santiago Nasar, representing aspects of both was murdered,
the community’s belief system was tested after the group as a whole neglected to put a stop to it.
This neglegation to perform the honorable action versus a Christ-like action was only one way in
which the society was represented as corrupt overall. Marques utilizes the Vicario brothers and
their honor along with women’s sense of purity and religious figures of the novel to symbolize
the contrasting aspects of society leading to warped moral values and a sense of corruption in
both principles. The character Santiago Nasar is also used in showing this corruption through his
strong symbolism of both masculine and pure characteristics that led to a dishonorable chosen
qualities, the respect for said masculinity is proven to be corrupt in nature and put on a pedestal
within society. Various attributes of the brothers represent this image such as, “a bullet
wound…” that one brother would often show off as a sort of “novel trick” to impress others (60).
Symbols such as these that prove nothing more than one’s masculinity were employed by many
men in Colombian society to portray themselves as the patriarchal dominator’s of the community
and prove themselves worthy of respect. However, these qualities were shown to corrupt the
minds of men by persuading most to believe in responsibilities that they were obligated to carry
out as the leaders of those weaker than them. The most intense action being the murder of
Santiago Nasar committed by the Vicario brothers who pleaded that they were innocent due to
the felony being, “a matter of honor”, as honor is a major aspect of machismo (49). Murder is not
an honorable action as most people would agree especially when sought after for revenge.
Nonetheless, to uphold their manly disposition the brothers felt forced to carry out this duty and
protect their image in society. Along with the pressure they exerted on themselves, others in
community contributed as well such as Pablo’s wife who stated, “I never would have married
him if he hadn’t done what a man should do” displaying her support in their manic decision (62).
The clear point of corruption can be noticed by one of the ten commandments that states “thou
shalt not kill”, and yet for a society that raises religion as an equally important virtue, those
within the town continue to support these act’s of secured manliness. With a sense of
disproportionate values, the town’s beliefs were skewed and the renowned ideal of machismo
brought the Vicario brothers to commit a horrendous crime: the murder of Santiago Nasar.
Machismo and the qualities the reside with it clearly show the corruption of a town that could not
choose between what was right under the bible or a patriarchal society.
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Corruption is also found in the assumed equal principle of religious authorities and the
purity of women. Catholicism is the prominent religion of Colombian societies and therefore
women are expected to maintain a purity that is equivalent to the virgin Mary and stay
wholesome until marriage. Yet women in the novel are often found, “carrying… baskets of
artificial flowers” to mask their innocence (28). Flowers are a known symbol of purity and
fragility of the mind and body; artificial flowers mean quite the opposite. To hide their secret
infidelity, women will use these artificial flowers to falsely uphold their image of innocence and
trick those around them. When it is found out that Angela Vicario isn’t completely pure, it is
stated that, “the fact that [she] dared put on… orange blossoms without being a virgin would be
interpreted afterward as a profanation of the symbols of purity” and would cause disgrace on her
and her family (41). For years Angela was able to hide her tampered saintliness with fake
flowers, but to be put through her marriage with real flowers would be blasphemous. Religious
authorities of the novel had also displayed moments of unholiness but not quite to the extent of
women. During Santiago Nasar’s autopsy for instance, a priest took the dead man’s intestines,
“gave them an angry blessing and threw them into the garbage pail”(76). The irony in this
example is that no priest would be found probing a deceased man’s body and throwing his
organs in the garbage with no thorough blessing. People look to priest’s for their christ-like
attitudes and for one to “angrily bless” and throw away a living souls body parts is a horrible
representation of the church. All in all, the false and inhumane practices that represent the town’s
devotion to their religious beliefs is yet another corrupt section of society that is no better than
Marquez yet again finds a distinct way to represent this societal immorality within one
character, Santiago Nasar, and his representation of both machismo and religious ideals. Many of
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his masculine characteristics had derived from his deceased father such as, “the mastery of high-
flying birds of prey” which is shown as an intimidating past time (7). By controlling a bird of
prey, Nasar represents himself as a man willing to “prey” on others and uses the fear of those
around him to demand respect. He also uses a similar tactic of wearing a, “.387 Magnum on his
belt” but takes out the bullets (5). With or without the bullets, a man holding a gun is instantly
respected in society due to having dominance of power. Both of these hobbies are symbols of
machismo qualities that intimidate others and gain the admiration of his town that sees these
things as honorable. Unfortunately, this respect is upheld even after Nasar defiled a woman and,
“grabber [her] whole pussy”(13). Sexual harassment at this time was obviously not as recognized
and tolerated as being a normal behavior. Men used it as yet another way to represent
dominance, but the irony is that if believed their wife were not a virgin before marriage they
would completely disown them. Despite each of these masculine symbols, Nasar was juxtaposed
as a symbol of purity and at the end, Jesus himself. In simple ways his name was derived from
the word “saint” and he was found in his last hours wearing, “a shirt and pants of white linen”(5).
His name and physical appearance- all white to represent purity- were direct symbols of his
christ-like attributes. The most prominent symbol however was his complete comparison to Jesus
Christ with his murder scene paralleling Jesus’ crucifixion in its entirety. Similar to Jesus being
nailed to the cross, “The knife went through the palm of [Santiago’s] right hand” to portray him
as a symbol of Christ in his last moments (117). Even if his wounds were simply coincidental,
the symbols alluding to his purity prove otherwise. Yet another direct comparison of the
crucifixion was that when stabbed, “there wasn’t a drop of blood” that escaped Santiago (118).
His purity had shown through at that moment and made those within the town question whether
or not he was truly an innocent man falsely accused of the defilement of another woman.
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Regardless of these major symbols, no man who defiled other women and raised predatory
animals to assert dominance by fear can be seen as a completely pure individual. By including
reputable characteristics that contrast with the normal manly behavior exerted from most
Colombian men, corruption is not only found in societies warped definition of each, but in their
decision to respect one over the other that inevitably led to an unforgiving murder.
In all, by juxtaposing the Vicario brothers, women, and religious authority figures along
with conflicting values within the character Santiago Nasar himself, societies fraudulent ideas of
machismo and religion were clearly shown. The many “masculine” actions that took place
plainly contradicted the beliefs of the Catholic church while many supposed “pure” individuals
took part in just as many unholy affairs. Although it is unclear where the town’s priorities were
given, Marquez made a point to recognize the conflicting viewpoints in a society that eventually
Works Cited
Márquez, Gabriel García, and Gregory Rabassa. Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Penguin Books,
2014.